I fist my hands.
“He told me no. That’s when I informed him that I had something he wanted. I pulled out the key to his car and told him he could have it back after graduation if he let you stay here.” He smiles at me. “And he accepted it.”
“That’s why he wouldn’t send me back after I got suspended,” I whisper. He nods. “You dick.”
“You don’t understand …”
“No. I guess I don’t!” I snap, walking over to the railing that looks over and down to the first floor. I grab my black bag and unzip it.
“It’s not like you didn’t know my intentions,” he says from behind me. “I never once pretended to care about you.”
I flinch at his words and yank my shirt out of my bag. “That was obvious when you cut my arm.”
“Austin …”
“Or when you had your best friend video tape me crawling all over you.” I pull the shirt up over my head not even bothering with a bra. “Let’s not forget the recording of you fucking me in the bathroom.”
“Things have changed.”
I spin around to face him. “What the hell has changed, Cole?” I demand. “Because it sounds to me like it’s still the same.” His eyes are narrowed on me. “We’re still playing a game. Just a different level. And you’re gonna do whatever your friends suggest.”
“I don’t take orders from them,” he growls.
I laugh as I grab my shorts out of my bag. Pulling them up my legs, I say, “They tell you to walk away from me, and you actually want to do it. Sounds like they’re giving you orders.”
“It makes sense,” he argues. “They made a point. Your dad is onto us.”
“I don’t care!” I shout, throwing my hands out to my side. “What is he gonna do? Give me a fake check? So what? It didn’t matter if it was real, I still wasn’t gonna take it. I don’t need it.” Between the three accounts that Jerrold and Jeff had, we’ve each made enough to live comfortably. Well, I have. I don’t need much to survive. “You’ve been feeding me these lines of bullshit of how you want me to go to Texas with you, and all of a sudden, you want to get rid of me.”
“I still want you to go to Texas with me.” He runs his hand through his hair nervously. “We’ve got one final dare to do. I don’t want you anywhere near me when we do it. It’s too risky.”
I push my right hip out and cross my arms over my chest. “You drew without me present? Because the last memory I have was of you all breaking up the group.”
He shakes his head softly. “We didn’t draw for this one. It was decided long before you ever came along.”
I don’t like the sound of that. “And what is it?’
“I can’t tell you …”
“Cole!” I snap.
He stares at me. His eyes clouded and jaw tight.
“What is it?” I demand, taking a step toward him.
He lets out along breath. “To kill your dad.”
I just stare up at him.
“He deserves to die for what he did to my mother. For taking advantage of her. For trying to kill me and successfully killing three of my best friends. But he also deserves to die because of what he did to you.” I swallow. “For making you stay with your mother.” He shakes his head. “You deserved better than that, Austin. Better than me. And I can’t have you anywhere near me when I complete it. I don’t want you getting involved. Or getting hurt. That would defeat the purpose.” His eyes search mine. Still I say nothing. “This is just temporary. Give them a different kind of show.”
I take a deep breath, turn around, grab my bag, and walk down the stairs. This time, he doesn’t follow me, and I have a feeling he doesn’t plan on it either.
It’s officially over.
The game ending.
I hate that tears sting my eyes. That Cole Reynolds made me feel something for him that I never thought I’d feel. He took from me, but I also willingly gave him things I can never get back. One of those is my heart. He just shattered it.
And it has nothing to do with the dare he plans on doing to my father. He was right—that bastard deserves to die for what he’s done.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
COLE
IT’S BEEN TWO weeks since she walked out of the clubhouse for the last time. I see her in the halls and in class, but she doesn’t look my way. And I try not to look at her. It’s harder than I thought it would be. She doesn’t sit with me at lunch anymore, and I know she has completely shut me out. And I hate that things will never be the same with her.
I’ve lost her.
I knew it the moment I saw her talking to that guy from her birthday party. I can’t remember his name, but I recognized him by her locker. He had been playing beer pong with her that night I walked into Bruce’s game room. He had looked at her like he was dreaming of her naked. That look hasn’t changed.
“I don’t know how you do it, man,” Deke says as he sits down at the table in the cafeteria across from me.
“Do what?” I ask, not bothering to look at him. Instead, I scan the door waiting for her to enter.
“Not talk to her.”
I say nothing.
“I mean, I would go crazy if I knew Becky was dating someone else.”
“What?” My head snaps to his.
“Myers,” he says, looking down at his phone. “They’re dating.”
“No, they’re not.”
He looks up at me. “Yes, they are. He took her to a movie last night. And they’re going to some play this weekend.”
“How the fuck do you know that?”
“Becky told me.”
I fist my hands on the table. “I’ll break his neck …”
“You can’t do that. You broke up with her.”
“Because you guys convinced me that was my only option,” I growl.
He nods. “And I still stand by that.”
“Maybe I should call the whole thing off—”
“No!” he interrupts me. “Kellan sees you two are no longer together. We need him for the final dare. And if he thinks you two are together, he won’t do it.”
At this point, I don’t care what happens to Bruce. “We don’t need him.”
“We don’t, but he knows the plan. We can’t have him turning on us.”
I look up to see Austin walking into the cafeteria with that fucking idiot by her side. He laughs, and she smiles. I want to knock him the fuck out.
“You said Becky was worth the group,” I say to him. He nods once. “You said you would pick her over us.”
“Yes. And I still would, but she is not in danger.”
“I can protect Austin.” I slam my fist down on the table.
He sighs. “You’ve only got two weeks left, Cole. And then she’s all yours.”
I want to believe what he says, but what if he’s wrong? What if she never comes back to me? What if she realizes that I wasn’t enough for her? She was always out of my league. I’m just the guy with anger issues and an obsession for blood. She is more than that. She deserves more than that. What will she do when she realizes that?